Tweet #theGAC FORT SMITH, Arkansas – Harding’s Rylie Marshall buried a go-ahead 3-point field goal with 1:51 remaining to lift the third-seeded Bisons to a 68-65 victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Friday’s Great American Conference Men’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal game from Southside Arena.

The Bisons (20-9) found themselves trailing for only the second possession of the second half after the Bulldogs (15-13) capped a 25-14 run with an Elijah Williams 3-pointer for a 64-63 advantage. Marshall came free on the left wing and made his third 3-pointer of the contest.

Williams could only split a pair of free throws with 54.5 seconds left to leave SWOSU down by one. The Bulldogs forced a turnover on Harding’s ensuing possession only to turn it back over with 8.5 seconds left. Harding’s Wyatt Gilbert, a 91 percent free-throw shooter, made two to extend the lead to 68-65. A last-second 3-point try from Eli Al-Debaran rimmed out to end the contest.

The victory marked the first for the Bisons at the GAC Championships since a semifinal win at the 2016 event. They had dropped their last four tournament games. They also reached the 20-win milestone for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Stetson Smithson and Sam Smith combined for 34 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 13-for-15 from the free-throw line. The Bisons finished 22-for-25 on free throws. Marshall scored 13 and Keyln McBride added 12, plus five assists.

Williams scored a game-high 19 points for the Bulldogs. He added 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Al-Debaran and MJ Warrior each scored 15.

With the win Harding secured a third meeting with Ouachita Baptist, scheduled for 8 p.m. on semifinal Saturday. The Bisons and Tigers split their regular-season meetings as Ouachita Baptist won in Searcy in December and Harding claimed an overtime victory in January.